28 Mr. W. W. Saunders on the Gall, &;c. 



much in the same state as when procured by Mr. Stephenson in 

 New South Wales. The galls when full grown vary from f inch 

 to 1 inch in length, are of an oval shape, and in all the specimens 

 which I have seen are broader than the branch on which they are 

 formed. They usually occur singly, but occasionally two are 

 found together as shown in PI. II. fig. 5. Externally they are of 

 a reddish brown colour, somewhat resembling the colour of the 

 hark of the plant which nourishes them, and present a rather 

 rough warty appearance. The anterior of the gall appears to be 

 a spongy mass of woody fibre, with an external covering of wood 

 in its natural state. Various irregular passages run through the 

 spongy portion of the interior, extending as far as the centre of 

 the branch,^ near which in advanced galls an elongated chamber 

 will be perceived, in which the larva changes to the imago state. 

 When this change takes place, the perfect insect eats its way out 

 of the gall, making a rounded aperture for its exit, as shown in 

 the upper gall of fig. 5. The larva (fig. 8) is apodal, about -f^ 

 inch long, nearly cylindrical, and 13-jointed. The forepart of the 

 body is abruptly truncate, with the first two joints smaller than 

 the third, which is about as broad as the tenth, tlie intermediate 

 ones being somewhat narrower ; the remaining joints form a 

 rounded termination to the body, the last joint being small and 

 somewhat bifid. On the back the joints are depressed in the 

 centre, by a channel which runs longitudinally from the head to 

 the other extremity. The parts of the mouth are small and of a 

 dark brown colour. The general colour of the larva is a brownish 

 yellow or horn colour. Mr. Stephenson says he found the larva 

 in the month of June, which answers to the month of December 

 in this country. The perfect insect, I should suppose, appears in 

 the spring or early summer of New South Wales, but Mr. Ste- 

 phenson has given me no information on this point. It appears to 

 be common in the neighbourhood of Sidney. To illustrate the 

 economy of this gall-forming Buprestis, I have figured three galls 

 as they appear on the branches of the Pultenaea, as well as sections 

 of two other galls, to show their internal formation. From one 

 section (fig. 6) a larva was taken. From the other section (fig. 7) 

 a perfect insect was obtained. I have also given in fig. 8 as 

 correct a representation of the larva as my means would allow, 

 for I think it necessary to state that the foregoing description of 

 the larva, as well as the figure, were both taken from a specimen 

 in the dried state, but in such good preservation that I think 

 both will be found very near the truth. 



